Yokohama

The Yokohama is a striking long tailed rare breed, believed to have arrived in Europe from Japan during the 1860’s or 1870’s. The original imports were sent from the port of Yokohama, by a French Missionary named Girad. In Europe the breed was thus known as Yokohama.

In the UK, all of the varieties with long tails were given the Yokohama name, but in Germany, in attempt to differentiate them, they gave them different names: "Jokohama" for the varieties with red lobes and walnut / pea combs and "Phönix" for the single combed varieties with long tail feathers. Breeders in Germany, most notably in Saxony, worked hard on improving the breed and Harrison Weir wrote in “The Poultry Book” published in 1902 “In some parts of Saxony and Germany, they are raised to great perfection, and clubs have been instituted for their production and possible improvement”.

The Phönix vareity were mostly made up of the Japanese O-Nagi-Dori and were further crossed with other European breeds, possibly with Old English Game, mostly to overcome some of the challenges of inbreeding from the few imports that were available. The Jokohamas are thought to be crosses from the Japanese breed of Satsumadori, Minohiki and others.

Yokohamas have remained a rare breed in the UK and still seem to be more popular in Germany, which is surprising considering how striking they are. It may be because managing the tail feathers, which trail behind the male on the floor and can become dirty in the wrong kind of environment, proves too much of a challenge for their keepers.

The Yokohama was first admitted to the APA's Standard of Perfection in 1981.


Yokohama chick


Yokohama hen


Yokohama rooster

For more information on this breed and their owners' and breeders' experiences with them, see our breed discussion here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-breed-focus-yokohama.1112745/